Alex Greenhalgh feels strongly about the importance of appropriate training for everyone at ANSA Elevators, from school students to accountants, from apprentices to managers. Acknowledging that whilst the cost may seem high for many small and medium enterprises, he regards it as a worthwhile investment. “As owner of the business, I regard staff training for everyone as a must-have. For example, accreditation with OHSAS 18001, now an obligatory requirement for membership of LEIA, is embedded in our integrated management system.” He expects the same high standards from training providers too, which proved to be a challenge for his company located in Oldham, Lancashire. Committed to the LEIA Distance Learning Courses, difficulties arose when it came to assessments. “Most training providers are based in London and the South East,” says Alex, “which meant that travelling North to us every couple of months for assessments added significantly to the cost and time.” He decided that the answer was to train his own NVQ assessor in-house, supported by LEIA’s Lawrence Dooley. This had the double benefit of streamlining the process as well as developing the skills of the experienced lift engineer chosen to become the NVQ assessor. “Our provider handles all the administration, timetables and applications for NVQ 2 and 3, “says Alex, “and we can focus on the training and assessment elements.” The cost of training is calculated at between £3k-£4k per head, and in the past five years a decision has been made to deduct these costs should the Made to measure individual leave the company within two years of being trained. Alex has also changed the way the company deals with apprenticeships. Rather than taking on young people directly from school, potential apprentices are given paid work experience and an offer conditional on achieving merit in BTec Level 3. “This gives them four to eight weeks experience on the tools, and an idea about the bespoke nature of the job, not to mention being more prepared for the real world of work,” says Alex. The commitment to training is not just vocational. All administrative staff are encouraged to undertake the Introduction to lift technology and modules on health and safety, including NEBOSH. A chartered accountant at the company was sponsored at university by ANSA, as was another doing his engineering degree. Alex himself studied for an MSc in Managing Business Performance, at the University of Salford. He believes it is essential that everyone in the business understands their role and recognizes the value of training – and is encouraged to complete course work on time and give sufficient time for revision. His own studying experience also helps recognize when a member of staff is struggling. “A very good engineer was taking a long time to complete his NVQ3, and I discovered that it was the contract management element – he simply did not have the academic background needed – so we were able to deal with that and help him move forward.” Alex Greenhalgh. data on the take-up of the courses, to identify the balance between small and large companies, geographic location, ages of candidates and so on. Initial analysis demonstrates the wide range of organisations that take advantage of LEIA’s distance learning programme, from lift companies employing fewer than ten people to global players employing more than 100, from local authorities and London Transport to international engineering companies and specialist consultants. There is a broad geographic spread too, from London and the South East to the Midlands and the North of England. Turning to safety, occasionally there are issues that are important for everyone, that are made publicly available on the open part of the LEIA website. In 2015 it was release of trapped passengers, last year it was casual use of release keys. Newspapers were reporting frequent incidents of nursing homes and shops using the lift release key rather than finding out what was wrong. As Lawrence says, “In other words, they were using an emergency tool as a solution, rather than recognising that there was a problem that needed investigation and resolution. Tragically, ignoring the problem has led to fatalities.” A highlight of the year was the launch of Liam loves lifts, a safety campaign for the general public that consists of book, sing-along song and height chart. Designed for young children and their families it describes in a graphic but non-frightening way how to avoid the serious situations that cause the majority of child injuries. The success of the Little Fingers theme of the campaign was clearly demonstrated when LEIA Managing Director Terry Potter met Caroline Hesketh who chairs the Antrim Community Support Group of Autism NI when he visited Northern Ireland at the beginning of the year. Caroline told him that her autistic son Jacob is fascinated by lifts – and how effective Liam loves lifts has been in teaching him and other children how to be safe. The success of the project has resulted in plans for a similar Escalator campaign. Another, rather unexpected success arose from LIFTEX 2016. One of the attendees asked why LEIA had not produced a training module for lifting platforms, when there are training modules for stair lifts, escalators and so on. It was a great opportunity to visit all the platform lift companies at the exhibition to ask if they would be interested in contributing to the development of the module. There was unanimous support, so plans are in hand for putting that together. It was an ideal opportunity with so many people there, to talk about issues, judge reaction and gain cooperation. As for other tasks, Lawrence wants to revise questions for the Distance Learning Course, written five years ago. But the author is looking to retire and LEIA does not have the resources to do the task. “So we are searching for someone who is both an academic and an experienced engineer,” says Lawrence. It might suit someone who could accommodate the time commitment, perhaps someone who could act as a consultant (two to three days three times per year reviewing exam answers plus a couple of days per term for technical queries) and retain their day job.” As Lawrence says, “We need to do some creative thinking on this one!” LEIA ANNUAL REVIEW 2017 È